Soul Switch
by Dark-Kitsune-45
Summary: Kagome is stressed. Not only does she have to worry about her exams and Inu Yasha being impatient, now Rin has come through the well to visit her! What will happen when she takes the girl back through the well to return her to Sesshomaru?
1. Chapter 1

~ Gail: Where's Kurane? Isn't she supposed to be introducing her new fic now?

Kara: Yes, but whatever, I'll just get this out of the way. Hello everyone. Your authoress is being lazy again, so it is left up to me to introduce this chapter.

Kurane: Who are you calling lazy?

Gail: There you are; we were looking for you.

Kara: Good. You can introduce your fic.

Kurane: Fine fine fine. Anyways, this is my first Inu Yasha fic and I hope you like it. ~

Soul Switch

Kagome Higurashi sighed; she had been studying for her math final for the past three hours. Closing her books, the young woman rubbed her eyes, 'I wonder how Inu Yasha and the others are doing. They've probably gotten themselves into more trouble...Ack! Now is not the time to be worrying about them! I have to study for my final or I'm gonna fail for sure!!'

She grabbed a drink and sat down at her desk again, opening her books with a heavy sigh. Kagome was about to resume studying when she saw a faint glow from the shrine door. A vein pulsed in her temple, "That had better not be Inu Yasha coming to demand that I return to the Feudal Era." Her eyes widened when a familiar little girl in an orange and white checkered kimono walked nervously out of the shrine.

----

Jaken looked around the clearing, his panic rising. He frowned, 'Where could that fool child have gotten off to?' Rin caused trouble for him on a regular basis, but this was the worst. The girl had wandered off while his back was turned, and Sesshomaru would be returning soon. "M'lord Sesshomaru is going to kill me for this when he finds out." The toad demon groaned. With that grim certainty in mind, he resumed his search with greater energy.

- Flashback –

"Oooooh, this is pretty!" Rin exclaimed from somewhere behind Jaken, he was honestly not paying her much attention. A frown crossed his face; Sesshomaru had left him to baby sit the child again, a job he hated.

There was a rustling of bushes and Jaken's frown deepened, "Don't leave the clearing!"

"...Kagome-sama..." Was all he heard from the bushes as the sound faded into silence.

- End Flashback -

He stopped in mid stride, "Kagome? Isn't that the wench with...?" Jaken's eyes widened and another groan escaped his lips.

"Jaken." The quiet voice startled him, and as he registered who the voice belonged to, he began to tremble.

He turned to his lord, "Y-yes M'lord Sesshomaru?"

The tall demon's eyes narrowed as he looked around the clearing to confirm what his senses had already told him; Rin was missing. Catching her scent faintly on the air, Sesshomaru walked past Jaken without a word or glance. There was another scent in the air, faint, but still detectable. Inu Yasha.

----

Kagome ran tearing down the stairs to the yard and Rin. She stood, staring at the child for a moment before speaking, "Rin, what are you doing here? For that matter, how did you get here?"

The little girl, ignoring the questions, squealed happily and glomped her, "Kagome-sama!!" The high school student recovered after a moment, and hugged her back. After a few minutes, Rin let go and was led to the kitchen by a concerned Kagome.

Handing her a cup of tea, the young woman had to get the answers to her questions, "Rin, why did you come here?"

"A-are you mad with Rin?" The child asked, her eyes watering and voice quivering.

"No, of course not. I'm just curious as to why you came to visit."

A triumphant grin lit up the girl's face, "Rin found something for you Kagome-sama, and went looking for you. Good thing Rin fell into the Bone Eater's well!"

Kagome blinked in surprise, 'The only thing that could have allowed her to pass through the well without my help is...' She smiled at the child as she was handed a piece of folded cloth, but one thought continued to nag at her.

The little girl smiled as Kagome opened unfolded the small bundle, "Rin wrapped it in cloth so it wouldn't break."

----

Inu Yasha paced impatiently near Lady Kaede's hut, 'Where the hell is Kagome? What's taking her so long?' Miroku looked over at the pacing hanyou, "Relax Inu Yasha, she's in her own time, what could happen? Besides, she said she needed to study for a test of some kind."

"Who says I'm worried about that wench? I'm after jewel shards, and the longer she stays in her time, the longer it's going to take to collect them all." He reminded the priest with a growl.

Sango rolled her eyes at the two, and continued petting Kilala, 'She's probably fine, but I get this feeling that something's wrong.' Her eyes traveled warily to Miroku as he moved to sit next to her. The echoing sound of someone getting slapped didn't come as a surprise to anyone. What did come as a surprise was the sudden appearance of a certain demon.

Sesshomaru approached the hut with Jaken running along to catch up to him. He paused as his eyes settled on Inu Yasha and those with him, "Inu Yasha."

The hanyou glared at his older half-brother, "Sesshomaru! What the hell do you want!?!"

Jaken bristled, "Mind your tongue around M'lord Sesshomaru, you worthless half-breed!"

Lady Kaede came out of her hut, eyes widening at the sight of Sesshomaru. The demon spared the priestess a glance before returning his attention to Inu Yasha, "Where is Rin?"

"Feh. How would I know?" He growled quietly. In all honesty, he was a little curious about this new development.

Sango stiffened faintly, her instincts had told her something was wrong, and they had been right evidently. She turned to the hanyou, "You should go see Kagome, she might know something."

Two sets of amber eyes turned on Sango; Inu Yasha's filled with annoyance, and Sesshomaru's filled with the mildest curiosity. "Fine. I'll go see what that wench is up to." He grumbled as he rose. There was a faint grumble of "Probably got herself into trouble…again." as he left.

----

Much to Inu Yasha's annoyance, the short trip to the well was not made alone. He turned and glared at his older half-brother, "Why the hell are you following me!?!" Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow as if the answer should have been obvious, which it was if the hanyou thought about it.

As they entered the clearing at the well, Inu Yasha's growls of irritation cut off abruptly as his mind registered the prone forms of two very familiar females. He rushed over to Kagome and shook her shoulder, "Wake up! Kagome, wake up already!" He decided to ignore the relief he felt as her eyes slowly opened to gaze up at him in what he figured was sleepy confusion.

Sesshomaru, meanwhile, was at Rin's side, cradling her small frame as he waited for her to wake up. The confused look she gave him didn't worry him as much as the startled shriek she gave moments later as she bolted out of his arms and hid behind Inu Yasha.

Turning a murderous glance on the hanyou, Sesshomaru's voice was a bare growl that held several nasty implications, "Inu Yasha…"

Inu Yasha's reaction to the tone was instinctive and, as Kagome may have worded it, single-minded. He drew the Tetsuiga and pushed Kagome behind him protectively as he prepared to fight.

"Osuwari!" Rin's voice shouted suddenly and to Inu Yasha's surprise, he ended up face first in the dirt.

"Rin?" Sesshomaru's voice held confusion, something not heard before (or at least not that anyone could remember) from the youkai lord.

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?" These words came from Kagome's throat and elicited very confused glances from both demons. Something was _very_ weird about all of this.

"I think we'd better go talk to Kaede." Rin's voice murmured quietly into the confused silence.

(A/N: Yes, I'm finally posting again! With any luck, I'll be able to continue posting stuff for you wonderful people. As you can guess, I don't own Inu Yasha or the characters, only the plot for this fic. See you next chapter!)


	2. Chapter 2

~ I want to say a huge thank you to people for putting up with my procrastination and writer's block. That said, I should also apologize for how freaking long it took me to get back to this one. ~

Chapter 2

Being stuck in the body of an eleven-year-old girl was strange, Kagome decided as she sat next to Inu Yasha. Then again, being stuck in the body of an eleven-year-old girl while sitting next to her seventeen-year-old body and between two half-brothers that wanted to kill each other was..._very_ strange. Kagome sighed mentally, 'Why does this weird stuff _always_ happen as soon as I get back here?' At least Jaken had been sent back to Sesshomaru's palace; that would make things a little quieter.

Everyone was gathered in Kaede's hut as the priestess looked between Rin and Kagome with a confused and worried expression. Sesshomaru was seated next to Rin, protectively guarding a body he would, under normal circumstances, have been more than willing to sink his poisonous claws into, and it was a similar situation with Inu Yasha and Kagome. Kaede glanced over at Kagome, "Child, do ye remember what happened?"

Kagome frowned a bit, "I remember I was at home studying for an exam when I saw a light in the shrine." Her glance shifted to Inu Yasha and became irritated, "I thought it was a certain _someone_ coming to bring me back here, but it was Rin." Inu Yasha opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by a firm glare from Kaede.

Sesshomaru's gaze shifted between Kagome and Rin, "Rin, what were you doing?"

It was an odd sight to see her body shifting nervously (dare she say squirming?), and Kagome wasn't sure if she should answer for Rin. The shifting stopped and she spoke up quietly, "I was going to give Kagome-sama a pretty stone I found in the forest."

The youkai lord's eyes narrowed at the same time as Inu Yasha's and both spoke at the same time, "What was it?" Sesshomaru gave his half-brother a dangerous glare, but said nothing.

The girl shifted uncomfortably and moved closer against Sesshomaru's side, "Rin doesn't know, but it was pretty." She paused for a second and reached into the pocket of Kagome's shirt to pull out a shard of the Shikon no Tama, a proud little smile lighting her face.

Inu Yasha impulsively darted forward to grab the shard and Sesshomaru reacted by pushing Rin behind him and drawing his sword. The conflict was averted, however, by a shout from both girls, "Osuwari!" The ground muffled Inu Yasha's indignant curse, which was good since Kagome would have happily introduced his face to the ground again if Rin had heard his foul language.

Sesshomaru looked over at Kagome and found that he didn't like seeing a frown on Rin's face. To be honest, he didn't like the image of Rin so close to Inu Yasha. It made him want to tear the impetuous hanyou to pieces. He felt a hand tug on his sleeve and glanced at Rin, an eyebrow arched in his way of telling her to speak. She smiled shyly, "Rin went through the Bone Eater's Well to visit Kagome, and when we came back through..." She trailed off with a frown.

Kagome tensed slightly, the Bone Eater's Well was supposed to be a secret that none but a select few knew about. Kaede glanced at the young miko, "What happened when ye returned?"

"It's a bit hazy...I remember that it felt strange, and then it felt like being torn in half..."

Rin nodded, "And then we woke up and you were there." She glanced at Sesshomaru as she fell silent.

Miroku, who had remained unusually silent until then, spoke up, "That's where we should start then. I'll bet someone's behind this." His teeth clenched with anger, "Probably Naraku again."

* * *

Kagura smiled in satisfaction as she entered the hall. She had placed the Mirror of Souls as ordered and the trap had worked...as far as she could tell anyway. She had sensed the approach of Inu Yasha and Sesshomaru and had not wanted to get into a fight with both at the same time. She approached her master's chamber and knocked on the door, "I have returned."

The door opened and Naraku eyed her coolly, "You placed the Mirror in the Bone Eater's Well as I instructed?"

She nodded, "Yes, and the trap has already been sprung."

A faint smile curved his lips, "And the results?"

Kagura hesitated, not wanting to mention that she hadn't exactly stayed long enough to see the results. "...The results were as we expected."

Naraku's smile faded and was replaced by displeasure, "You didn't stay to see the results. I assume you have a good reason?"

"I would have been discovered by Inu Yasha and Sesshomaru, and would not have escaped to report back." She replied quietly.

"Inu Yasha _and_ Sesshomaru? What were they both doing at the Well?" Naraku couldn't hide his curiosity. News of Inu Yasha and Sesshomaru being in the same vicinity and _not_ trying to kill each other was very interesting indeed. Interesting enough that he might not kill Kagura for her failure.

Seeing that he was interested, Kagura relaxed slightly, "I'm not entirely certain, but Rin and Kagome were both caught in the trap we set."

His smile returned, "Wonderful."

* * *

As the group headed back through the forest to the Bone Eater's Well, Rin decided to stretch her legs and see how fast this new body could go. She ran ahead of the group, barely holding back delighted giggles at the speed these longer legs could produce. Inu Yasha and Sesshomaru allowed her to get ahead of them a bit with one simple thought in mind: 'We can see her, we're right nearby. What could happen?'

The answer to that appeared in the form of a wolf demon named Kouga. Upon seeing a cheerful Kagome (which was actually Rin), he ran up with a smile, "Hey Kagome! Long time no see!"

Kagome grimaced at the sight of the persistent wolf demon, "Kouga. Great, this just keeps getting better and better." Inu Yasha's response was the usual running at Kouga and yelling at him to back off, while Sesshomaru approached the wolf demon with a cold and decidedly homicidal expression on his face.

At the sight of both brothers approaching with murder in their eyes (and ignoring the look of naive curiosity from Rin), Kouga smirked and scooped up "Kagome" before running off at top speed.

Rin looked back at Sesshomaru with panic, "Sesshomaru-sama!"

Kouga almost stopped in his tracks. Kagome calling for _Sesshomaru_? Something was wrong here. Very wrong. He looked down at her, "Why are you calling for _him_? I thought you would be calling for Inu Yasha."

She looked up at him, "Let Rin go!"

Before he could respond to that, Inu Yasha and his half-brother had caught up to him and he had to dodge to avoid the Tetsuiga and poison claws. He held the girl in his arms and narrowed his eyes at Inu Yasha, "What the hell kind of trouble have you gotten Kagome into this time, you stupid half-breed mutt!"

Inu Yasha bristled at the insults, "Kouga, I'm going to kill you!"

Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes, "Inu Yasha, osuwari."

As the hanyou's face was introduced to the ground yet again, Kouga looked over with curiosity at the small child approaching him. The only person he had ever seen do that to Inu Yasha was... "Kagome?"

She nodded, "Yes, Kouga. Now please let Rin go, you're scaring her."

Sesshomaru advanced on the wolf demon, intent on tearing him limb from limb, but stopped as Rin was released and ran into his arms. Inu Yasha muttered something about hurting someone as he pulled himself off the ground and glared at Kagome. Sango sighed and the others caught up to the group, "It would seem that we need to explain the situation."

The wolf demon's eyes shot to the female hunter, "You're damn right you do. What's going on here?"

"Kouga, watch your language." Kagome scolded him as she approached. She sighed, "This is going to be a very long day if we keep running into people and those two -" Her eyes flicked between the half-brothers with irritation, "- keep wanting to kill each other."

* * *

"So basically, Rin and I have switched bodies and we're headed to the Bone Eater's Well to see if we can find a clue there." The miko summed up as they sat in a small clearing to have some lunch.

"I'll come with you since I obviously can't trust a certain half-breed -" He shot Inu Yasha a dark glare, "- to keep you safe." Not that he trusted him anyway. The stupid hanyou thought he was tough enough to take on anyone that tried to get in his way and always ended up getting Kagome hurt or in danger.

Sango and Miroku shared a look; they knew full well that these three demons (well, demon-blooded individuals), did not get along. So much for a peaceful day. Not that it had started out peaceful anyway, with the current situation. The hunter sighed and closed her eyes to try and relax so she wouldn't get a headache. Mere seconds later, her eyebrow twitched as she felt an aggravatingly familiar hand on her posterior. "Miroku..." She growled in a one second warning before slapping him.

Kagome watched the two and sighed, "Every time. Every. Single. Time. And he never learns." She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to try and fight off a headache.

Sesshomaru found it odd to watch his ward's body performing an action he had seen the miko do on several occasions. "Miko."

Startled, she looked up at him, "Yes?" His head was tilted ever so slightly to the side as if he was...curious? Huh. She didn't know he had enough emotion to be curious. Putting her hands on her lap, she explained, "I do that to fight off an impending headache. I suppose I don't need to in Rin's body."

The youkai lord's eyes shifted to Rin as she roamed the clearing before returning to the miko, "Does it help?"

"With Inu Yasha around?" She snickered at that, "Not as often as I would like."

Said hanyou appeared behind her, "Kagome..."

Rin walked up behind him and whispered, "Osuwari." Inu Yasha gave a startled yelp as his face was introduced to the ground and glowered at the girl as she started giggling.

Everyone else in the clearing paused. Miroku was the first to speak what everyone seemed to be thinking, "Wait, does this mean both Kagome _and_ Rin are able to use those miko powers?"

Kagome eyed Rin, "Huh. Well, that could come in handy." A wicked little smirk curved her lips as she considered the uses of this new knowledge. Her thoughts were interrupted by a rustling in the bushes that was quickly followed by two familiar fuzz balls bursting out of the leaves and rushing to their respective humans.

Shippo jumped into Kagome's arms with a happy laugh, "Kagome! Kagome!" Kilala, in the meantime had curled up on Sango's lap with a contented purr.

The miko looked at him in surprise, "Shippo, how did you know...?"

Inu Yasha glowered at the little kitsune, "Yeah runt, how did you know that was Kagome?"

"I was watching and I heard what happened." He replied as he snuggled into Kagome's arms to seek protection from the hanyou.

Miroku spoke as he helped Sango clean up from the meal, "We need to get moving so we can get the ladies back to normal as soon as possible. It isn't good for the body or the soul to be switched like that." Everyone agreed and soon the meal was cleaned up and they were on the move again.

* * *

It was late afternoon by the time they reached the Well and a search of the perimeter had yielded nothing of note. Sesshomaru approached the Well and looked down through the darkness. His eyes narrowed as he caught a faint glimmer of light shining off of...something, though he didn't know what it was. Reaching in carefully, he grabbed the strange object and pulled it out, snapping the strings holding it in place. "Miko."

Kagome gave him an annoyed frown, "You could call me by my name, you know." Putting her irritation to the side, she walked over and looked at it, "A mirror? That's odd. What was that doing in there?"

Rin came over to look as well, but paused and gave a small whimper, "Bad. Evil. I don't like it!" She rushed over to Sango and clung to the hunter, looking frightened.

Kouga frowned; whatever it was, evidently it wasn't good. It was odd to see Kagome's body reacting and know that it was actually Rin responding to the mirror. Made a wolf demon all kinds of confused.

Shippo voiced the question they were all thinking, "What is it?" There was only one way to know for sure; head back to Kaede.


	3. Chapter 3

~ Again, I should apologize for how long these chapters are taking me. Even with a somewhat busy schedule, I should be getting chapters out to you more often. Thanks for your patience!

To Lady Amynestra: I do *plan* to continue this story, and hopefully the updates will be more frequent. My preference would be to see this story through to the end instead of writing a this-is-how-it-was-going-to-end summary.

To BlueGem22: I'm really glad you have been enjoying the story! Updates should (hopefully) come along more frequently. ~

Chapter 3

Kaede watched the group as they approached and noted that their number had grown in the short time they had been gone. She recognized little Shippo and the two-tails, Kilala, but she had never met the wolf demon that was now walking behind Kagome. With a sigh and a mental complaint about her old joints, the priestess walked out to invite them into her small but comfortable hut. "Ye have returned already? Come inside so we can talk over some tea."

Once everyone was seated around the small fire, Kagome gave the older priestess an update. "We went back to the Bone Eater's Well – and met Kouga along the way – and found a mirror hanging inside the Well." She glanced over at Sesshomaru; he had been in a bad mood the entire way back since Rin wouldn't go anywhere near him while he carried the mirror and no one else was willing to touch the thing.

The demon lord in question caught her glance and wordlessly pulled out the mirror for Kaede to inspect. The older miko's hand had reached towards it, but she stopped herself and pulled back. A frown creased her face, "I daren't touch it. That mirror is an evil thing that only a powerful demon can resist or control. There is no doubt that it is responsible for your present troubles."

Inu Yasha stood and unsheathed his sword, "Then we just have to smash it!"

Sesshomaru spoke with a voice like ice, "Half breed..."

Rin picked up on her Lord's mood and a mysterious little smile curved her lips as she whispered, "Osuwari."

As the hanyou's face was introduced to the floor, Kagome sighed tiredly and explained to a startled Kaede, "Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention that apparently Rin and I are both able to control Inu Yasha's geas."

"Lady Kaede, what did you mean when you said that only a powerful demon can control or resist the mirror? Why can a miko not do the same?" Sango asked into the thought-filled silence that followed.

"And why the heck can the runt control the stupid geas as well as Kagome?" Inu Yasha growled as he pulled his face off the ground and took his seat once more.

A giggle filled the room and all eyes turned to Rin as she walked over to the red-robed hanyou. "Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari!" The giggles turned into helpless laughter as the poor hanyou was repeatedly introduced to the dirt face first.

Kagome grimaced and reached out towards the girl, "Rin, sweetie..."

The corners of Sesshomaru's lips twitched ever so faintly, but there was no trace of it in his voice as he spoke, "Rin, enough." With a happy giggle, the girl in question rushed to his side and sat down.

Kouga snickered and added in, "Inu Yasha's dumb enough as it is, he doesn't need any help." Sango and Miroku both sighed in exasperation while Shippo remained wisely silent on the matter (see, he was learning!). Kagome watched the hanyou as he lay twitching on the floor and waited for him to get up and charge at either Kouga or Sesshomaru.

Kaede cleared her throat to get their thoughts back on the important matter at hand – that being the mirror, not Inu Yasha – so they could work towards a solution. "I will need time to study the texts and see what I can find. As for why a miko cannot control or resist the mirror -" Her gaze shifted to rest on Sango, "- the evil it contains is too powerful."

"Lady Kaede," Miroku spoke up with a thoughtful expression, "if it can only be controlled by a powerful demon, then would Lord Sesshomaru not be able to use it to switch the girls back into their own bodies?"

All eyes shifted to the silent demon with questioning looks. Those looks were met with cold eyes that only thawed (marginally) when they landed on young Rin; she may be in the miko's body, but she was still his ward. He wasn't sure if it would work, but it was worth a try if Rin might be returned to her own body. Holding the mirror, he looked at both of the girls, "Rin. Miko. Put your hand on the mirror."

Rin wanted to obey him, she really did, but that evil mirror scared her. There was a dark energy humming along the glass that made her skin crawl and made her want to run from the hut and leave it far behind her. She nearly did too, but stopped when she felt a hand on her arm. She looked to see Kagome smiling reassuringly at her and the young girl relaxed a little. "Together?" She asked in a quiet voice that couldn't hide her fear.

The young miko nodded, "Together." It honestly surprised her that the entire group (even Inu Yasha!) was being quiet. Pushing that thought to the side, she took hold of Rin's hand, and together they reached out to touch the glass of the mirror.

All eyes watched as Sesshomaru focused his energy on the mirror, trying to bend its will to his own. After several minutes of tense silence, the demon opened his eyes with a frown of displeasure, "The mirror will not respond to my will. It would appear that the only one able to reverse it is the one who set the trap in the first place."

"Which leads us right back to Naraku. Lovely." Kagome sighed wearily as she sat back on a cushion. Things were not supposed to go like this! Before she fell through that well, she had been a normal high school girl (ignoring that she lived at a shrine) with normal issues like exams. That train of thought made her freeze as she got a sinking feeling. Exams. Finals. FINALS!? "How am I going to write my math final in this body!? I still have to study!"

Several pairs of confused eyes (or indifferent, in Sesshomaru's case) looked at the distressed miko. She always seemed to get kind of...panicky? freaked out? whenever the topic of these tests came up. Kaede handed her another cup of tea, "Drink, child. There is not much ye can do about this 'final' until the two of ye have switched back."

Shippo nuzzled against his human, "It'll work out, Kagome."

"When is this 'final' that worries you so much, miko?" All eyes turned to the youkai lord as he spoke, his tone quiet but holding an unexpected curiosity.

"In five days." The frazzled girl responded, finding herself intrigued by the very fact that he was even asking.

Kouga sat next to her and stretched, "Then we'd better get you back in your own body before then." He smirked at Inu Yasha as the hanyou scowled in anger (jealousy, really, but the idiot wouldn't admit it).

Then Sesshomaru made an offer that made the entire hut go silent in absolute shock and disbelief, "I will help you prepare for your 'final' once you are back in your own body."

"I - ...Ok. That would...I would appreciate the help, Lord Sesshomaru." Kagome somehow managed to a) not have a heart attack from shock, and b) thank him. If it wasn't for his unmistakable aura, she might have almost thought it was someone else (a kinder twin, perhaps?). Maybe this was his way of paying her back for helping Rin?

- Four days to exam day -

After an evening spent discussing the situation and possible tactics to use against Naraku, everyone had been tired (except a certain youkai lord) and had fallen asleep. The young miko awoke the next morning to the feeling of something fuzzy against her hand. Opening her eyes to peer blearily at whatever-it-was, she went absolutely still as her brain registered what her eyes were seeing.

Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands and generally not friendly to humans (except Rin), was laying asleep on the mat next to her own. And the fuzzy thing she had felt against her hand? Yeah, that was his tail.

Kagome almost gave a shriek when an arm suddenly flopped across her waist, but managed to keep silent and relaxed when she recognized the arm. Ah, apparently Rin was sleeping on her other side. Well, that would explain Sesshomaru's proximity. Of course! It made sense now that she thought about it calmly...calmly-ish. Ho boy.

"Miko." The quietly spoken word brought her attention snapping right back to the dangerous inu youkai as he sat up. Everyone else in the hut was still asleep, so it was peaceful at the moment. Sesshomaru got to his feet in a silent and graceful motion, "Wake the others. Once you have eaten, we will leave." With that, he picked up the still-sleeping Rin and left the small dwelling to wait outside in the clear morning air.

When this particular crisis was over, Kagome vowed she was going to take a week long break from the Feudal Era. Regardless of what a certain hanyou had to say about it. Honestly, she needed a break or she was going to lose it! With a sigh, she set to rousing the others; the sooner they started the hunt for Naraku, the sooner she could get put back into her own body.

Shippo looked around the hut after being woken and blinked when he noticed their group was missing two, "Where did Rin and Sesshomaru go?"

"They're waiting outside, I would imagine." Sango explained as she started getting some breakfast together with Miroku's help.

Once the food was ready, Kagome grabbed two bowls and went outside the hut to where Sesshomaru and Rin were waiting. The young girl had woken and was happily telling her lord about some birds she had seen the other day, but paused mid-sentence when she caught the scent of food. "Breakfast!"

Kagome chuckled and handed one of the bowls to Rin, "There you go. It's going to be a long day, so eat up while you have time." She offered the other bowl to Sesshomaru, "It's not the kind of food you're used to, I'm sure, but you should eat as well."

Glancing at the eagerly eating Rin and then to the miko, the inu youkai nodded and accepted the bowl, "Go eat, miko. We leave soon."

'_A 'thank you' would have been nice.'_ Kagome thought with annoyance as she headed back into the hut to eat. Not that she had been expecting an expression of gratitude from him, in all honesty. Heck, the fact that he had even accepted the food was surprising enough.

As soon as everyone had eaten their fill and the clean up was done, they all gathered outside the hut near the trees. "Time is going to be an issue, so how are we going to find Naraku and get the girls switched back before Kagome's final?" Kouga queried, voicing the question a few of them were pondering.

Rin looked up at her lord with a big smile, "Are we going to ride in the carriage?"

The youkai lord looked down at his young ward thoughtfully. If they rode the carriage through the skies, it would make the hunt for Naraku much faster and get Rin back into her own body sooner (meaning less time spent in Inu Yasha's presence). ""That would be fastest."

* * *

Naraku leaned back on his cushions with a dark smile of anticipation. They were all coming to him; all the people he wanted to destroy. He looked over at Kagura as she lounged, polishing the fan she used to enhance her wind magic. His wind sorceress was defiant, though she didn't think he noticed all of her little betrayals. Foolish. "We will be having guests. Make sure to prepare some entertainment for when they arrive."

Kagura paused in polishing her fan and got to her feet, "As you wish." She would set traps as he ordered, but she secretly hoped they would fail. While she bore no love for Inu Yasha and his group, she hated them less than she hated being bound to Naraku. Sesshomaru was...a different story. She wasn't sure how she felt where he was concerned.

* * *

Kagome watched the land below fly by as they soared just below the clouds in Sesshomaru's carriage. This had to be the most unnerving thing she had ever experienced in her life – and that was taking all of her other experiences in the Feudal Era into account.

Kouga pulled her into his arms, "Relax, Kagome. You might not be able to count on the mutt to keep you safe, but I won't let anything happen."

"Bastard! Let go of her!" Inu Yasha growled as he shot to his feet and scowled at the wolf demon.

"Inu Yasha..." The miko started warningly, already tired of his attitude and constant need to pick a fight with everyone. The hanyou sat back down, fuming with jealous anger. As she always did when she felt an impending headache, Kagome closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Oh, this was going to be a very very long day.


End file.
